Building permits · Jul 2026

Building permits per capita by county

Counties ranked by residential units authorized per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to Jul 2026 — the measure of how fast a place is adding housing relative to its size. Jasper County, South Carolina leads at 56.6 units per 1,000 residents.

A permit is an authorization, not a housing start — some authorized units are never built. Only counties with at least 25,000 residents are ranked.

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1.Jasper County, South Carolina56.6
2.Brunswick County, North Carolina36.0
3.Dawson County, Georgia33.9
4.Wasatch County, Utah29.9
5.Walton County, Florida28.8
6.Sumter County, Florida27.8
7.Manatee County, Florida27.4
8.Jackson County, Georgia23.0
9.Flagler County, Florida22.1
10.Taney County, Missouri21.3

Building permits per capita by county, 12 months to Jul 2026. Circle area is proportional to units per 1,000. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.

Building Permits per Capita: Top U.S. Counties
#	County	Units per 1,000	Units, 12 mo.	Population
1	Jasper CountySouth Carolina	56.6	1,667	29,444
2	Brunswick CountyNorth Carolina	36.0	5,026	139,721
3	Dawson CountyGeorgia	33.9	928	27,355
4	Wasatch CountyUtah	29.9	1,046	35,009
5	Walton CountyFlorida	28.8	2,209	76,618
6	Sumter CountyFlorida	27.8	3,671	131,832
7	Manatee CountyFlorida	27.4	11,093	405,069
8	Jackson CountyGeorgia	23.0	1,769	77,033
9	Flagler CountyFlorida	22.1	2,600	117,515
10	Taney CountyMissouri	21.3	1,197	56,202
11	Bryan CountyGeorgia	20.8	935	44,995
12	Benton CountyArkansas	20.2	5,792	286,528
13	Jefferson CountyWest Virginia	19.7	1,141	58,043
14	Bastrop CountyTexas	19.6	1,934	98,435
15	Barrow CountyGeorgia	18.7	1,576	84,399
16	Montgomery CountyTexas	18.6	11,744	629,989
17	Hays CountyTexas	18.5	4,551	245,351
18	San Jacinto CountyTexas	18.1	500	27,666
19	Pender CountyNorth Carolina	18.0	1,109	61,592
20	Horry CountySouth Carolina	17.7	6,318	356,578
21	Pinal CountyArizona	17.5	7,564	433,338
22	Charlotte CountyFlorida	16.9	3,212	189,900
23	Washington CountyUtah	16.2	2,968	183,297
24	Hamilton CountyIndiana	16.1	5,612	349,527
25	Boone CountyIndiana	15.7	1,119	71,235
26	Canyon CountyIdaho	15.5	3,653	235,006
27	Collin CountyTexas	15.3	16,561	1,079,153
28	Harnett CountyNorth Carolina	15.3	2,063	134,718
29	Douglas CountyWashington	15.1	654	43,189
30	Madison CountyIdaho	15.1	794	52,487
31	Marion CountyFlorida	14.9	5,645	378,225
32	Sussex CountyDelaware	14.9	3,574	240,668
33	Ellis CountyTexas	14.8	2,888	195,509
34	Pasco CountyFlorida	14.7	8,349	569,211
35	Washington CountyArkansas	14.7	3,627	247,331
36	Osceola CountyFlorida	14.5	5,718	393,745
37	Polk CountyTexas	14.5	733	50,536
38	Catawba CountyNorth Carolina	14.4	2,311	161,011
39	Burnet CountyTexas	14.3	711	49,684
40	Lee CountyFlorida	14.3	11,055	772,902
41	Baldwin CountyAlabama	14.3	3,337	233,420
42	Hancock CountyIndiana	14.3	1,143	80,170
43	Laurens CountySouth Carolina	14.1	948	67,456
44	Brazos CountyTexas	14.0	3,286	234,548
45	Maury CountyTennessee	14.0	1,429	102,002
46	Sevier CountyTennessee	14.0	1,376	98,455
47	Fannin CountyGeorgia	13.9	353	25,436
48	Fort Bend CountyTexas	13.7	11,420	832,607
49	Lee CountyAlabama	13.7	2,398	175,126
50	Johnston CountyNorth Carolina	13.6	2,981	219,042
51	Comal CountyTexas	13.5	2,233	165,201
52	Franklin CountyNorth Carolina	13.1	914	69,680
53	Wake CountyNorth Carolina	13.1	14,808	1,132,103
54	Iron CountyUtah	13.0	752	58,068
55	Spartanburg CountySouth Carolina	12.8	4,232	330,119
56	Currituck CountyNorth Carolina	12.8	366	28,616
57	Potter CountyTexas	12.8	1,508	117,905
58	Durham CountyNorth Carolina	12.8	4,149	325,101
59	Rockwall CountyTexas	12.6	1,398	110,631
60	Carroll CountyGeorgia	12.6	1,513	120,060
61	Citrus CountyFlorida	12.5	1,943	155,173
62	Taylor CountyTexas	12.5	1,788	143,029
63	Buncombe CountyNorth Carolina	12.5	3,367	269,449
64	Sarasota CountyFlorida	12.4	5,429	439,392
65	Kendall CountyTexas	12.3	556	45,376
66	Bulloch CountyGeorgia	12.2	972	79,829
67	Minnehaha CountySouth Dakota	12.1	2,395	197,742
68	St. Johns CountyFlorida	12.1	3,373	278,722
69	Arlington CountyVirginia	12.1	2,852	235,845
70	Chatham CountyGeorgia	12.0	3,557	296,266
71	Deschutes CountyOregon	12.0	2,384	199,352
72	Wilson CountyTennessee	12.0	1,783	149,096
73	Richmond (Independent City)Virginia	11.9	2,714	227,171
74	Gallatin CountyMontana	11.9	1,419	119,685
75	Johnson CountyTexas	11.8	2,158	182,690
76	Berkeley CountySouth Carolina	11.8	2,723	231,419
77	Wakulla CountyFlorida	11.7	396	33,732
78	York CountySouth Carolina	11.7	3,318	282,987
79	Sheridan CountyWyoming	11.7	365	31,176
80	Lake CountyFlorida	11.6	4,482	386,829
81	Elbert CountyColorado	11.5	305	26,457
82	Union CountyOhio	11.4	725	63,411
83	Robertson CountyTennessee	11.4	836	73,297
84	Kootenai CountyIdaho	11.3	1,951	173,396
85	Marshall CountyTennessee	11.2	388	34,567
86	Dane CountyWisconsin	11.2	6,275	559,891
87	Alamance CountyNorth Carolina	11.2	1,920	171,779
88	Montgomery CountyTennessee	11.2	2,482	222,305
89	Botetourt CountyVirginia	11.1	374	33,734
90	Ada CountyIdaho	11.0	5,475	497,494
91	Knox CountyTennessee	10.9	5,244	481,406
92	Santa Rosa CountyFlorida	10.9	2,054	188,994
93	Grayson CountyTexas	10.8	1,485	137,008
94	Troup CountyGeorgia	10.8	753	69,527
95	Hoke CountyNorth Carolina	10.8	568	52,612
96	Union CountyNorth Carolina	10.7	2,567	240,109
97	Cache CountyUtah	10.6	1,430	134,428
98	Sarpy CountyNebraska	10.6	2,033	191,272
99	Berkeley CountyWest Virginia	10.6	1,303	123,283
100	Madison CountyAlabama	10.5	4,099	389,781

Top 100 of 1,586 ranked counties. Every row links to that geography’s full monthly permit history.

Other permit rankings

Metro areas with the most building permitsMetropolitan and micropolitan areas ranked by housing units authorized over the last 12 months.Counties with the most building permitsU.S. counties ranked by housing units authorized over the last 12 months.Building permits per capita by metro areaMetro areas ranked by units authorized per 1,000 residents — the housing-supply rate.Fastest-growing housing markets by building permitsMetro areas with the largest year-over-year increase in permitted units, same window both years.Housing markets with the steepest permit declinesMetro areas with the largest year-over-year drop in permitted units, same window both years.Metro areas where multifamily is the biggest share of new housingMetro areas ranked by the share of permitted units in buildings with 5 or more units — share, not volume.

Go deeper

Every metro area →Monthly permit history for all metropolitan and micropolitan areas.Home sale prices →County median sale prices — pair supply with what the market is clearing at.Fair Market Rents →HUD rents by county, metro, and bedroom count — the rent side of the same market.

Building permits by state

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Building permits per capita by county — FAQ

Which county permits the most housing per capita?+

Among counties with at least 25,000 residents, Jasper County, South Carolina permitted 56.6 housing units per 1,000 residents over the 12 months to Jul 2026.

Why exclude counties under 25,000 people?+

Small denominators dominate per-capita rankings: a county of 400 residents that permits three homes registers 7.5 units per 1,000 and outranks every real housing market. The floor keeps the ranking about housing supply rather than arithmetic.

Where does the population figure come from, and how current is it?+

It is the population published with HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents, which carries a 2023 base year — roughly three years older than the permit window. HUD derives it from Census estimates and holds it fixed for the fiscal year, while the permit counts run through Jul 2026 — so read these as units per 1,000 residents as of that base year, not as of today. Counties that have grown quickly since then rank higher than a current population would put them.

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